A report on the Garda removal of two Roma children from their parents in the false belief they were stolen children is not ready for publication, the Department of Justice has said.
The report by Children’s Ombudsman Emily Logan is understood to be highly critical of the actions by officers in the separate cases in Tallaght and Athlone.
Ms Logan submitted her report to Alan Shatter, the then justice minister, six weeks ago and comments he made at the annual meeting of the Garda Superintendents Association a few days later were taken as a reference to its findings.
Mr Shatter told the meeting he had concerns about racial profiling influencing Garda decisions. “There is a concern that because on occasions members of police forces in Ireland or elsewhere don’t understand the background and cultures of some individuals and don’t quite understand the difficulties they may have had in having relationships with police forces in their home country; that conclusions are reached about issues that may not be accurate; that on occasions people with the best of intentions adopt stereotypical images of individuals from minority communities, don’t always engage in a manner that is appropriate, and indeed on occasions will jump to conclusions,” said Mr Shatter.
The Department of Justice said yesterday it hoped to publish the report on the cases of the two Roma children “as soon as possible”.
It added: “However, on advice from the Attorney General’s Office, certain procedures have to be followed prior to publication aimed at ensuring that the rights of the families involved are respected.
“In the circumstances it would be inappropriate to make any comment on the report until that process is completed and the report can be published.”
Mr Shatter ordered the report following two incidents last October. A 7-year-old Roma girl from Tallaght, Dublin, was removed from her family home under an emergency care order after a member of the public raised concerns that the blonde-haired, blue-eyed child was not with her real family.
The girl was held for two days before DNA tests proved her parentage and she was returned home.
While she was in care, a second child, a 2-year-old boy from Athlone with similar features was also removed from his parents, although he was returned in a day.
The Garda actions followed on from international headlines when a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl was removed in Greece from a Roma family years after she was sold to them by her mother as an unwanted baby.
Ms Logan is believed to have concluded that the actions of the gardaí were excessive and influenced by racial profiling, although she stopped short of saying racial profiling was an institutional problem within the force.
Frances Fitzgerald, the justice minister, is understood to be concerned that the right to protection of matters private to the families discussed in the report is not breached by its publication.
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